Friday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2008.
|
| John Larson of Old Salem displayed dozens of pictures of the construction and operation of Idols Dam. |
The Winston-Salem Utilities Commission needs the crane to clear debris and silt from the Idols Dam that threatens to clog its water intake operation just upstream.
Already, the commission has awarded a contract to demolish the 1898 building designated as a historical engineering landmark. A crane sits ready to do the work, but the commission has granted a short reprieve because of the site’s significance.
On Monday, about 35 Clemmons residents saw a treasure chest of old photos of the construction of the dam and generating plant. John Larson, vice president for restoration for Old Salem Inc., recounted the site’s history.
Next week, the Clemmons Historical Society plans to press the utilities commission to find an alternative to demolition. The commission meets Monday.
Larson said the meeting helped create a new appreciation for the site. “It was once the most popular spot in Forsyth County. This was quite an engineering marvel. This idea of electricity was quite new ... power lines were considered a thing of beauty.”
With Idols Dam, Winston-Salem led the state in industrialization and wealth in the early part of the century, he said. “By the 1920s, Winston-Salem and Forysth County was the place to be.”
Idols was a recreation site.
“People were coming out here, and it became the place to go. It was like Pilot Mountain. People would seek it out.
“It was not only a marvel, but a lovely place. They would fish and picnic,” Larson said.
Idols produced electricity for 90 years, and a company tried to rehabilitate the generating plant until a fire in 1998.
“There’s a lot of controversy about what started the fire,” Larson said, citing an electrical spark as the probable cause. “I don’t know that we will ever know that.”
The City of Winston-Salem acquired the site several years ago.
Because of the headache of acquiring permits, it is easier for the city to knock down the building to gain access to the debris in the river. As long as the crane stays on the footprint of the current building, the city can do the work without upsetting a host of state and federal environmental regulations.
Instead, some suggested cutting a hole in the already damaged station and driving the crane through the center of it.
“The building is basically solid,” Larson said. “Since the fire, this site has been largely forgotten except for the fishermen. It’s not a lovers lane anymore.”
But it is still a powerful symbol for Winston-Salem ...”
Idols was built by Moravian entrepreneur Henry Elias Fries. Inventor Thomas Edison visited the site and was an investor.
“That gamble would pay off for the Fries family,” Larson said. “The fact that it survives today, even in its damaged form, through floods, a fire ... There’s really nothing like it. These statements of industrialization just don’t exist. This reminds us of that vision, that energy, that our forefathers left to us.”
He praised the utility commission’s “bold step” to take another look at the building and cited the city’s water operation as the reason Idols is still there. Even the dam might have been removed if the city didn’t need the pool of water.
“The dam is not in peril in any of these discussions,” he said. But the old building is.
“The Utilities Commission is not in the power generating business. Their primary business is to get water,” Larson acknowledged. “I think it’s real important for the public to show an interest. I hope tonight we’re not doing the obituary on this building.”
He said the commission has a balancing act to perform between protecting the water source and preserving a significant symbol of the past.
“There is a value to this emotionally and historically,” he said, adding that there was also economic liability.
“Whatever is done must be sustainable. Otherwise it is just going to be a ruin that falls in on itself. This place is pretty amazing. The reason Winston-Salem doesn’t have water rationing every summer like Greensboro is because of this site.”
Retired engineer Don Gerhardt of Clemmons presented a list of ideas about saving the building. He called for the installation of columns and beams to hold up the roof and cutting a hole through the building for the crane. He also wants the site open to the public at least once a year. He also suggested that the old Allis-Chalmers turbines be saved and displayed.
Terry Cornett of the Utilities Commission attended the meeting.
He said Blythe Construction Co. has a $2.6 million contract to clear the site but has understood the need for a delay.
“They understand the situation,” he said, adding that there is a cost. “That’s the thing that has not been discussed tonight — the cost. We’re not against preservation, but we’re not in the preservation business.”
The commission is having to pay $65,000 for the construction delay.
“We may eat $65,000 to hold up demolition, but restoring the roof has got to be somebody else’s money.”
Former Clemmons mayor Nat Swanson said the hole for the crane might work. “That looks like the best we can do.”
Larson said the commission might consider that it has been “blessed with a curse” in the Idols site.
“It’s our history. The problem is what can we save. The cost factor is hovering out there. Clearly, there are some real problems with financing. Longer term, the concern is that we don’t make decisions today that we regret in 10 years.”